London at School. By Hugh B. Philpott. (T. Fisher Unwin,
6s.) —Mr. Philpott tells under this title the " Story of the [London] School Board" for the thirty-four years of its existence. He has a good. right to do so, for he began his own education in a Board- school. It is to a teacher under the Board that he makes a grateful dedication of his book, and one of the most interesting chapters in it is that in which he describes the methods followed in infants' schools. The interest, indeed, of the book is as great as it is varied. The chapters on "The Religious Instruction Question" and "The Educational Ladder" will at once attract attention, but we cannot say that the first is wholly satisfactory. It is unseemly in Mr. Philpott to speak of " Unitarian " and "heretical infants." The second of the two chapters mentioned is much more to our mind. The " Ladder " does much good, but it might do more. Mr. Philpott points out its advantages and its defects. One or two matters certainly require amendment. The limitation of Oxford and Cambridge
scholarships to candidates under nineteen puts a serious weight on any one who has to start from the primary school. He cannot get his foot on the second rung before the boy from the preparatory school has mounted two or three higher. All the system of educational prizes and endowments as at present organised needs revision. A wealthy parent sends his boy to a preparatory school, and pays £150 a year for some four years for him in order that he may get the rest of the thirteen years (nine to twenty-two) at a very cheap rate. A list of the Collegers of Eton, with the returns of their parents for Income-tax, would be a highly interesting document if it could be given.
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